European Union

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European Union

In the European Union, enlargement, special arrangements for the expansion of the Schengen Area, and the gradual development of a stronger EU role in immigration have added new complexity to the policy landscape, leading to both new patterns of movement and new policies for governing immigration from outside of the European Union's 28 Member States. The research offered here focuses on migration policies, trends, and common challenges that affect Europe at a supranational level—from free movement to asylum policy and the management of EU borders.

As the European Union seeks to implement a Common European Asylum System, these publications and multimedia resources from MPI and MPI Europe examine asylum policy and humanitarian flows to Europe and elsewhere around the world.

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Nearly 40 percent of Switzerland's 1.6 million foreign residents come from countries outside the European Union. Julie Schindall examines the latest data on this population, integration indicators and policies, and political rhetoric and public opinion.

The European Union's recent proposal aims to attract highly skilled migrants by granting them access to all EU labor markets—but with some important limitations. Elizabeth Collett of the European Policy Centre explains the basics of the Blue Card proposal, the questions it raises, and national-level reactions.

While the countries that make a point of competing for the world's best and brightest tweaked their entry systems in 2007, the European Commission took a bold leap in late October: it formally proposed a European Union "Blue Card" scheme for admitting highly qualified non-EU workers who already have a work contract in a Member State and professional qualifications.

The language of migration and development—remittances, diaspora, brain drain, circular migration—has become standard among researchers and NGOs interested in development issues. In 2007, that language formally became part of the migration policy agenda, particularly in Europe.

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Drawing on experiences from Asia, Europe, North America, and the Pacific region, this report presents eight strategies that represent best practices developed by immigrant-receiving countries to increase the economic contributions of immigration.

Information and technology are centerpieces of a new border architecture that seeks to respond to the competing demands of facilitating mobility and managing cross-border risks while remaining cost-efficient and respectful of rights and privacy. This report shows how governments must approach border management systems to ensure properly balanced development.

This report details the post-9/11 programs and agreements implemented by U.S. and European governments to identify terrorists and serious transnational criminals through the collection and processing of increasing quantities of traveler data.

The global economic downturn and rising debt levels in all European countries have put immigration at the forefront of many debates surrounding public spending. This report presents a diversity of findings with regard to European governments' responses to immigrant integration organization, financing, and programs.

This policy brief examines the legalization debate on both sides of the Atlantic and discusses policy parameters that characterize legalization programs, such as qualifications, requirements, benefits, and program design and implementation.

The enlargement of the European Union has fundamentally changed migration patterns to the United Kingdom. Since May 2004 an estimated 1.5 million workers have moved to the UK from new EU member states. This report looks at the challenges ahead as migration patterns shift across the UK.

Despite benefits of sharing commercial, government, or personal information for law enforcement and intelligence purposes, U.S. and EU officials have toiled to find a satisfactory legal framework to do so. This report describes and analyzes possible legal, privacy, and data-protection frameworks for information-sharing agreements relating to human mobility.

“Good integration” happens every day in different areas around the country, either as a unified response to a tragic event, in the private sphere, or in the successful performance of some ethnic minorities in education and employment.Yet, in some respects, communities are moving apart, pulled or sometimes pushed, by their own choices.